minx

plural minxes

1. A flirtatious, impudent, or pert young woman.

   How Huſſie! was there ever ſuch a provoking Minx?

   1695, [William] Congreve, Love for Love: A Comedy. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, Act II, scene iii, page 20

   5 more examples

   In an other corner, Mistris Minx, a marchants wife, that will eate no cherries, forsooth, but when they are at twentie shillings a pound, that lookes as simperingly as if she were besmeard, and iets it as gingerly as if she were dancing the canaries, […]

   1592, Thomas Nash[e], Pierce Penilesse His Supplication to the Deuill. […], London: […] [John Charlewood for] Richard Ihones, […], →OCLC

   Miſs Herbert. So good, Mr. gallant, gay Lothario of ſixty-five, a good morning to you. [Exit. Miſs Herbert. / Old Manly. A ſaucy minx.

   1792, Joseph Richardson, The Fugitive: A Comedy. […], London: […] [John] Debrett, […], →OCLC, act IV, scene ii, page 56

   Miss Squeers made no more direct reply than surveying her former friend from top to toe, and elevating her nose in the air with ineffable disdain. But some indistinct allusions to a ‘puss,’ and a ‘minx,’ and a ‘contemptible creature,’ escaped her; and this, together with a severe biting of the lips, great difficulty in swallowing, and very frequent comings and goings of breath, seemed to imply that feelings were swelling in Miss Squeers’s bosom too great for utterance.

   1838 March – 1839 October, Charles Dickens, “Illustrative of the Convivial Sentiment, that the Best of Friends Must Sometimes Part”, in The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1839, →OCLC, pages 414–415

   "Thy own tongue blister the roof of thy mouth!" cried Mrs. Glendinning, in a half-stifled, whispering scream. "'Tis not for thee, hired one, to rail at my son, though he were Lucifer, simmering in Hell! Mend thy manners, minx!"

   1852 July, Herman Melville, “Book XII. Isabel, Mrs. Glendenning, the Portrait, and Lucy.”, in Pierre: Or, The Ambiguities, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], →OCLC, section IV, page 272

   Hopkins says she is a dressed-up little minx who runs after all the young men in the parish; but really, from what I see and hear from other persons, I think she is a good girl enough.

   1859–1861, [Thomas Hughes], “The Long Vacation Letter-bag”, in Tom Brown at Oxford: […], part 2nd, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor and Fields, published 1861, →OCLC, page 105

2. datedderogatoryA promiscuous woman; also, a mistress (“the other woman in an extramarital relationship”) or a prostitute.

   They are a couple of alluring wanton Minxes.

   1677 (date written), John Dryden, The Kind Keeper; or, Mr. Limberham: A Comedy: […], London: […] R[ichard] Bentley, and M[ary] Magnes, […], published 1680, →OCLC, Act I, scene i, page 4

   5 more examples

   Well, yet at length the houre came that flattered him with grace, / Who all too haſtie hide him ſelfe to his appointed place. / Arrived there, a pretie minx (directed wel before) / Unto a lodging brought this lord, and locked faſt the dore. / When he was ſafe, awaye ſhe went, for joy Alberto hopt, / But ſee, a chaunge! too late he ſpyde he was in priſon popt. / The windowes made of yron barres, the walles of ſtone and clay, / A bed he found, but farre unfit he thought for Venus play.

   1576, George Whetstone, “The Arbour of Vertue, […]”, in The Rocke of Regard, […], London: […] [H. Middleton] for Robert Waley, →OCLC; republished in J[ohn] P[ayne] Collier, editor, The Rocke of Regard, […] (Illustrations of Early English Poetry; vol. 2, no. 2), London: Privately printed, [1867?], →OCLC, pages 164–165

   [W]hat did you meane by that ſame handkercher, you gaue mee euen now? […] this is ſome minxes token, and I muſt take out the worke; there, giue it the hobby horſe, whereſoeuer you had it, I'le take out no worke on't.

   c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Tragœdy of Othello, the Moore of Venice. […] (First Quarto), London: […] N[icholas] O[kes] for Thomas Walkley, […], published 1622, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i], page 65

   If thou be abſent long, thy wife then thinkes, / Th'art drunke, at eaſe, or with ſome pretty minkes, / 'Tis well with thee, or elſe beloued of ſome, / Whil'ſt ſhee poore ſoule doth fare full ill at home.

   1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], “Causes of Iealousie, Who are Most Apt. […]”, in The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition 3, section 3, member 1, subsection 2, page 469

   He to his ardent love ſhall win the fair, / From beauty's queen, to her who ſcrubs the ſtair, / From the Kept-miſtreſs, or the Counteſs vain, / Down to the tawdry Minx in Drury Lane.

   1760, J. Copywell [pseudonym; William Woty], “Money. A Fragment of an Intended Parody.”, in The Shrubs of Parnassus. Consisting of a Variety of Poetical Essays, Moral and Comic, London: […] J[ohn] Newbery, […], →OCLC, page 142

   For my part, if I understand these sphinxes, / These living riddles called Olympian Gods, / I think they are in love with mortal minxes; / (It would not be the only time by odds;) […]

   1864, England’s Bards, 1864; or, The Three Poems which were Awarded the One Hundred Guineas Offered as Prizes in the Advertisement “Ho! For a Shakespeare!” which Appeared about the Time of Shakespeare’s Tercentenary Anniversary, London: Day and Son, […], →OCLC, section I (Pallas Athené and Venus at Breakfast with Juno, in One of Her Apartments), page 12

   Synonyms: bit on the side, concubine, doxy, dulcinea, goomah, leman, loon, mistress

3. obsoleteA pet dog.

   1 more example

   And of doggues there ben diuerſe ſortes mo then one: For ther be hariers, or buckhoundes, there by ſpanyels made to the hawke, or for taking of foule, ther be ſhepeherdes curres, there are tye dogges or maſtifes for keepinge of houſes, there ben litle minxes, or pupees that ladies keepe in their chaumbers for eſpecial iewels to playe withall. And ſo, to one demaunding what maner a dogge he, for his part was, he feactely aunſwered and ſaied: when I am hungry I am a litle mynxe ful of play, and when my bealy is full, a maſtife.

   1564 February, Erasmus, “The Saiynges of Diogenes the Cynike”, in Nicolas Udall [i.e., Nicholas Udall], transl., Apophthegmes, that is to Saie, Prompte, Quicke, Wittie and Sentẽcious Saiynges, […], London: […] Ihon Kingston, →OCLC, book II, folios 93, recto – 93, verso, paragraph 140

present singular third person minxes · participle present minxing · participle past minxed · past minxed

1. ambitransitiveUsed transitively when followed by it: to behave like a minx, that is, in a flirtatious and impudent manner.

   Alison might have, if she hadn't minxed herself out of a job.

   2001 July, Alan Bissett, Damage Land: New Scottish Gothic Fiction, Edinburgh: Polygon, →ISBN, page 60

   5 more examples

   [He] knows the dress of every girl he meets— / In fact could cut you out the very plan, / Each article could name, and tell you every shade, / Whether adorning minxing miss or ancient maid!

   1861, [Dr. Milligan], “Flight the Fifth”, in Baal: Or, Sketches of Social Evils. A Poem, in Ten Flights, London: William Freeman, […], →OCLC, page 102

   She grabbed desperately at the pistol, singeing hot, and she and Ginny fell to the floor, Marion on top and looking down at twisty little Ginny, that minxing blond thrush, now beneath her, churning under her and spitting and hacking and cursing Marion and cursing her so.

   2009, Megan Abbott, Bury Me Deep, New York, N.Y.: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, →ISBN, page 121

   It's just a late date. It's like I'm Carrie Bradshaw, minxing it around Manhattan.

   2010, Eleanor Moran, Mr Almost Right, London: Penguin Books, →ISBN

   Moonface minxed and flashed her red nails like a dancer, chameleon that she was.

   2013, Norm Sibum, “Book III—In Continuation, a Proper Narrative”, in Dan Wells, editor, The Traymore Rooms: A Novel in Five Parts: Quebec, America and Rome, Windsor, Ont.: Biblioasis, →ISBN, part 2 (Echo’s Gone), page 261

   Sadly, I was the one minxing around, so I was inevitably going to meet a horrible death.

   2014, Kelly Brook, Close Up: The Autobiography, London: Sidgwick & Jackson, →ISBN

   Synonyms: blissom, chamber, colt, gill, harlot, harlotize, rake, rig

2. transitiveTo make (someone) like a minx; (intransitive) to become like a minx.

   Whether you're sipping fine bubbly from a crystal flute while having your nails minxed, or soaking in a heavenly milk bath, a visit to Miss Fox is your ticket to forget your worries and simply indulge.

   2012, Hide & Seek Melbourne 2, Prahran, Vic.: Explore Australia Publishing, →ISBN

plural minxes

1. obsoleteObsolete spelling of mink (“any of various semi-aquatic, carnivorous mammals in the Mustelinae subfamily”).First known use 18th–19th c.

   Many of these birds are destroyed by Weasels and Minxes.

   1831, John James Audubon, “The Great Carolina Wren. Troglodytes ludovicianus, Ch. Bonaparte. […]”, in Ornithological Biography, or An Account of the Habits of the Birds of the United States of America; […], Edinburgh: Adam Black, […], →OCLC, page 401

   4 more examples

   The Minx […] frequents the water like the Otter, and very much reſembles it in ſhape and color, but is leſs; will abide longer under the water than the muſk quaſh, muſk rat, or little beaver: […]

   1771, Thomas Pennant, quoting John Bartram, “Otter”, in Synopsis of Quadrupeds, Chester, Cheshire: […] J. Monk, →OCLC, page 240

   2d. Carnivora, or flesh eaters. Of these we have […] the New York ermine, or ermine weasel; the mink, or minx otter; the common otter; […]

   1847, J. H. Mather, L. P. Brockett, “Zoology. [Class I. Mammalia.]”, in Geography of the State of New York. […], Hartford, Conn.: J. H. Mather & Co. [et al.], →OCLC, page 39

   We next come to the mink or minx otter (Putorius Vison) which is the only animal of the genus mustela inhabiting the northern parts of America that can be said to live in the water, and the name of "fisher" could with much justice be transferred from its present bearer to the mink.

   [1876], Charles Henry Eden, chapter VII, in The Home of the Wolverene and Beaver; or, Fur-hunting in the Wilds of Canada, London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge; New York, N.Y.: Pott, Young & Co., →OCLC, page 153

   There is, however, scarcely any distinction in the other portions of the dress of the sexes [of southeastern Alaskan natives], except that the skin coats or tunics of the women and the facings of the bonnet or hood (worn by both sexes) are more elaborately decorated with minx, otter, or seal fur about the throat, and down the front, than those of the men.

   1893 March, John H. Keatley, “Under the Arctic Circle”, in B[enjamin] O[range] Flower, editor, The Arena, volume VII, number XL, Boston, Mass.: Arena Publishing Co., →OCLC, page 491

   Synonyms: minx otter